Store

Everything posted by mackinaw

Very interesting article on Automotive News about electric pickup trucks. One thing I noticed, nobody has a clue if anybody will buy them.
For instance:
"Beau Boeckmann, president of Galpin Ford in the Los Angeles area and one of the largest U.S. Ford dealers, said customers are already asking about the truck.
"We're going to be shocked," he said. "I think the electric pickup truck has a huge future."
Not everyone is so sanguine. Industry tracking firm IHS Markit has estimated the entire full-size electric truck segment will account for fewer than 30,000 sales in 2026, compared with an expected 2.3 million sales overall."
"Detroit's other big automaker, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, has no current plans for an all-electric Ram, while Toyota Motor Corp. is betting more heavily on a hybrid Tundra pickup.
"The sliver of volume that's going to be electric pickups is not worthy of a business case," said one person familiar with Toyota's plans.
"This is going to be a real watershed for the whole industry," Ford Chairman Bill Ford told Reuters in a recent interview. The automaker has disclosed few details about the electric F-series, but Bill Ford hinted the truck could have load-carrying space under the hood in addition to the traditional bed in the back. "You pick up all that extra space where the engine compartment has been," Ford said. An electric F-Series could be a work truck -- with its batteries functioning as a job site power source, he said. And it could be positioned as a high-performance vehicle next to the gas-fueled, 450 horsepower Raptor pickup truck.
No subscription required, so the article should be available for all.
https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/ford-gm-ramp-plans-electric-pickups?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=automotive news&utm_content=f6ed74e5-54d2-4e4e-99cc-f959177096c0

From Autoline Daily. Range will be about 600 kilometers, or 370 miles using the European testing protocol. Probably about 330 miles using the EPA testing protocol.
Go to the 2:26 mark.
http://www.autoline.tv/journal/?p=63673

It was written by Free Press newcomer, Phoebe Wall Howard, who admitted in her first column she knows nothing about cars or the industry. I'm surprised at her naiveté. She seems shocked that car manufacturers often have start-up problems. Not to excuse Ford, but stuff like this does happen, Witness last year's difficult launch of the new Ram. It was rumored it cost FCA over $300 million to address launch quality issues.

Often times, no changes are made. The 1994 Dodge Ram was a boldly styled vehicle that polarized focus groups. A high percentage of people viewing the truck hated it. Chrysler decided to go with the bold styling and the truck was wildly successful.

As the story goes, the Mach E was originally a very boring looking car. Jim Hackett took a look, didn’t like it, and told the stylists to draw something they would want to own. So we get a Mustang inspired BEV.
As for its market, Ford probably wants the car to stand out in an increasingly competitive BEV market. They’re hoping a snazzily styled, performance BEV will do that.

Because you're reading personal opinions. That's the reason I stopped reading reviews. When it comes to buying a vehicle, the only personal opinion I care about is mine, not what some internet writer thinks.

Only statistic that matters. Ford produced about 135,000 1973 Mustangs (last of the old body style) and about 385,000 1974 Mustang II's. Absolutely, the car was a smash hit, and the right Mustang for the time.
(Interesting tidbit: I worked at the Rouge Plant during the summer of 1974 and my job was to drive cars from one end of the plant parking lot, to another. I have literally driven hundreds of 1974 Mustang II's.).

From Automotive News:
"Ford Motor Co. plans to build two midsize battery-electric crossovers for the Ford and Lincoln brands at a plant near Detroit for the 2023 model year, Automotive News has learned.
Three sources with knowledge of Ford's plans say scheduled production of the vehicles, code-named CDX746 and CDX747, was moved to the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan from Cuautitlan, Mexico. The vehicles are similar in size to the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus but will be built on the company's battery-electric vehicle platform, the sources said.
Both will be 2023 models, with production starting in late 2022 or early 2023. Ford has asked suppliers to prepare for production of up to 65,000 units per year, one of the sources said."
https://www.autonews.com/future-product/ford-lincoln-ready-new-midsize-ev-crossovers

Nearest dealer is Gaylord. And what's on their website doesn't reflect reality. There are supposedly four in stock, but when I drove through there lot on Sunday, there were none (though there may have been one in the showroom...I didn't check).